Cycling Question: Improving on Hills

I struggled on the bike while climbing the hill portions of the course. I do fine on long straight rides but really have a tough time while hill climbing. Any advice or training tips?

Member Question

"I completed my first sprint tri this past September (Bonelli Park, San Dimas, CA) and am training for the next one in April. I did ok in both the swim and the run but struggled on the bike while climbing the hill portions of the course. I do fine on long straight rides but really have a tough time while hill climbing. Any advice or training tips?"

A common saying goes, if you want to be a good writer, you have to write! Similarly if you want to be a good hill rider, you’ve simply got to ride more hills! This of course is the most obvious way of improving your ability to ride hills well, but I’d like to suggest a few other training tips in addition to hill repeats. [.....]